P3P: Summer Festival at Naganaki Shrine
by OhtaSuzuke
Summary: Summer classes are over and the festival is just a day away! Novelization of the P3P drama CD, with minor changes.
1. Chapter 1: Summer Classes are Over!

**I was bored one day and while watching the P3P drama CD on Youtube, I had the urge to novelize it, but never went through with it. As you all know, or may not know, I am currently co-authoring another story with my buddy Sea of Soul, which is a P3/P3P/P4G crossover that strictly follows the timelines in the game, so I thought _'Why not make this drama CD a part of that series?'_ and came up with this. Since it happened in the past of Persona: Chaos Butterfly, I made it into a separate series. The Arisato twins exist in the same universe and enjoy Natsu Matsuri together.**

**So, enough of my ramblings and I'll let you get to it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own P3P or any of the derivatives such as live action dramas, drama CDs and whatnots. They all belong to Atlus. If I did own them, I wouldn't be putting up a disclaimer now, would I?**

* * *

The temperature was slowly rising as the temperature climbed its highest peak in midday, the sun mercilessly radiating its heat upon the city of Iwatodai and its neighboring islet called Tatsumi Port Island. It had only been six days, but it felt like a tortuous lifetime for five second-year students of Gekkoukan High, who were also members of a secret club called Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or SEES for short. They were arduously making their way back to Iwatodai Dorm, after finishing the final day of summer classes.

Once the familiar building was in sight, they regained enough energy to increase their speed, eager to get out of the blistering heat. The pep returned in their demeanor when the cool air inside the building hit their faces after opening the front door.

"We're back!" they chorused at the same time.

"Iori Junpei has finally returned!" boasted a cap-wearing young man, basking in the cool air.

Eager to greet them upon entry was a blond-haired female android named Aigis. "Welcome home," she said as the high school juniors signed their names in the record log. Despite her monotone, there was some enthusiasm in her voice. At her feet, an albino Shiba Inu by the name of Koromaru barked his greeting as well.

Aigis tilted her head. "Junpei-san seems to be in unusually high spirits," she reported her observation.

"Yup! Today is the end of summer classes after all," Minako answered her. Her auburn ponytail swung as she turned to smile at Aigis, eyes twinkling. "Onii-chan is excited about it too…even if you can't tell by his facial expression."

Her twin brother Minato sighed as he finished signing his name. "Shut up…I'm just glad to be out of that heat," he deadpanned, proving his sister's point. Despite them being twins, they were the polar opposite of each other, even in appearance. Instead of auburn hair and red eyes, he had blue hair and storm grey eyes. His demeanor radiated aloofness and passivity unlike his sister's smiley and positive radiance.

"By summer classes, are you referring to the event Mitsuru-san has arbitrarily assigned you to, which Junpei-san has objected to?" Aigis asked.

Said young man was quick to express his opinion. "Yeah, that! Ruining a perfectly good summer break, what's up with that?!"

Fuuka was quick to defend their senior. "But, it's not as if Kirijo-senpai has bad intentions, after all."

"She might have…" Minako said frankly.

The petite scanner was taken aback. "Eh? …D-do you think so…?"

Once again, Minato sighed. "Sis, what did I tell you about keeping your thoughts to yourself?" Sometimes it was tiring to keep up with her outspokenness. Tiring because this trait often got her in trouble and he was the one who bailed her out of it.

Seeing Aigis' confusion, Junpei interjected with some humor. "Haha, she's just kidding. Anyway, those long hellish days are far behind us now! It's only natural for us to celebrate, right Ai-chan ~ ?"

"'Hellish'? Are 'summer classes' such a brutal affair?"

"W-well, it's not like it's fun or anything, but Junpei here is completely exaggerating," Yukari explained, taking a different approach to prevent him from poisoning her mind about the importance of school. "Besides, a phrase like that is only reserved for those who actually put effort into their studies. Someone like Junpei who's always late or sleeping through class, a slacker like him has no place saying stuff like that."

Minako smirked at her brother. "See, Onii-chan. Yukari-chan is indirectly scolding you. But unlike Junpei-kun, even if you do fall asleep in class, your grades are in tip-top shape!"

"Like I care…" he answered her with his trademark reply.

Junpei's goofball grin immediately disappeared when Mitsuru made her appearance inside the lounge. He began to panic at where this conversation was heading. "Yuka-tan, stop! That's enough!" His arms flailed idiotically, annoying Yukari even more.

"I see you've all returned," Mitsuru greeted them curtly. "How were summer classes?"

Junpei began to sweat. "G-great! It was a totally fulfilling experience!" he lied.

The red-head smiled in satisfaction. "I see. If it was even a slightest help to you all, then I'll be pleased. It seems that signing you up was the correct decision after all."

"Of course!"

The juniors rolled their eyes. "What a brown-noser…" Yukari whispered their thoughts.

"But y'know, Senpai…after wasting all tha- err, ehe…" He gave a stupid grin when Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. Not one to back down, the capped young man plowed through. "I mean, after working so hard all this time, it's fine if we have the rest of summer break to spend at our leisure, right?"

"Yes, of course," she answered.

"YAHOO! Come on, my summer!" Junpei yelled, fist-pumping with both hands.

Mitsuru turned to leave when a vehicle outside honked twice. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I must be heading out. I'll most likely be back until late. Akihiko has his own matters to attend to as well, so we won't be exploring Tartarus tonight."

"Yes, got it!" Minako said.

"Understood," Minato answered.

Aigis walked with her to the door. "Take care!" she said as Mitsuru left to attend to her business.

Once he was sure their icy student council president was gone, Junpei was finally free to speak his mind. "And so, my compatriots. Now that our schedules have finally been freed, what say we all hit the beach next week? How 'bout it?"

"Huh? The beach?" Yukari repeated.

"With precious few days left in our summer, going to the beach is clearly the way to go! Blue skies, white clouds, WAVING SEAS!"

Minako tilted her head, a finger on her chin. "Didn't you say that when we went to Yakushima too?"

"That's why! Didn't you have fun back then? Just think of it as an extra inning!"

Minato wasn't sure what Junpei meant by 'extra inning', but the horrible memories of Operation Babe Hunt still haunted him "…I won't answer that…" he said, looking away.

"Pass," came Yukari's quick reply.

"If it's alright, I think I'll pass too," Fuuka answered. "The sunburns I got back then prickle even now."

Junpei started to deflate. "…But, the extra inning…"

All of a sudden, Minako yelled "GAAAAME SET!"

"Yeah, what she said," Minato quipped.

"Wai…HUH?!"

Yukari mercifully explained to him. "Plus, preparations would be such a pain. I guess boys don't really have to worry about that kind of stuff, so I'm kinda jealous."

"A girl's preparations, eh?" Junpei wiggled his eyebrows. "Mind going into details?"

The blunette leader facepalmed. "Junpei…" he groaned exasperatedly, knowing what was going to come next.

"You're such a pervert!" Yukari screamed.

Seeing that there was no pleasing her, Junpei's temper started to rise. But still, he remained polite about it. "Then where do **_you_** want to go? A mountain? An amusement park?"

Yukari still wasn't happy. "Before that, why do I have to spend my summer vacation with **_you_** of all people, anyway?"

"So cruel!"

"Aahh, but I'd like to go out with everyone as well!" Fuuka gently inserted herself into the conversation, trying to diffuse the situation. "I don't really have any ideas of my own, though…"

"Something we can do together, huh…?" Minato mused, holding his chin to think of something.

Minako answered for him. "I know! Then how about a festival?"

Yukari calmed down fast enough. "A festival, huh? That's not a bad idea! There's gonna be one at Naganaki shrine, right? When is that happening?"

"I think it's gonna be tomorrow," Fuuka answered.

"As expected of our leader! You really did your research, don't you?" Yukari praised.

The auburn-haired leader sweatdrops. "Ah, sorry. I didn't know." Trying to save face, she crossed her arms and nodded sagely. "So there's gonna be a festival at that shrine, huh?"

"Wha – So you didn't even know that much…?"

_'And yet sometimes her outspokenness yields funny results,'_ Minato thought, letting out an amused snort at his sister's blunder.

Fuuka giggled. "It looks like there's going to be night stands set up. If you're all free, why don't we all go together?"

"Sure, I don't have any plans for tomorrow night," Yukari said.

"What about you, Leaders?"

Cheerful as ever, Minako answered in her sing-song voice "Of course, I'm going ~ !"

"I'll think about it," was Minato's answer.

His sister puffed her cheeks, clearly unpleased. "Onii-chan ~ Do your duty and escort me!" she whined, tugging on his sleeve. He grinned and petted her head.

"Then I would like to accompany you as well!" Aigis declared.

"But…Aigis," Fuuka began hesitantly. "You haven't been given permission to go outside yet, right? They did say that you're not allowed to leave the dorm and all…"

"If the supervising director Mitsuru-san makes a request, then there is a strong likelihood that I will be given clearance."

"Really? In that case, let's ask Senpai the next time we see her, okay? What about you, Junpei-kun?"

An idiotic grin appeared on his face. "Of course I'm coming too!...is what I want to say, but…"

This answer surprised Yukari. "Huh?! You're not going? _**You**_, of all people!?"

"H-hey! What do you mean by that?!..." Junpei retorted, not liking the implication in her voice. "Well, we might end up meeting each other though."

"You mean you already made plans with someone else?" Fuuka asked.

He waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, not yet."

"Huh?"

"He's probably hoping some girl is gonna ask him out or something. Just leave him," Yukari said. It was plainly obvious what the class clown was thinking.

"H-hey, it could happen!" Junpei defended.

"That's probably impossible, though," came Minako's quick answer.

"I agree," Minato said just as fast.

Junpei wanted to cry, though everyone could tell he was faking it. "You're all so cruel!"

Amused, Yukari playfully rubbed more salt on his wound. "Just leave the pitiful idiot be. Hey, if Aigis is coming along, she'll need some clothes, won't she ~ ?"

"Don't call me pitiful…" Junpei mumbled. He was ignored as the conversation took a turn into girl-talk.

"What about the blue one-piece she wore back in Yakushima?" Fuuka suggested.

Aigis shook her head. "No. I have heard that a special uniform is required for when attending summer festivals."

Yukari's brown eyes widened in surprise. "Where'd you hear that from?"

"Special uniform?" Fuuka wondered.

"I shall request for the necessary equipment from Mitsuru-san as well," Aigis answered confidently.

"Somehow, I got a bad feeling about this…" Yukari mumbled.

* * *

**Part 1 finished! Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the review :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Yukatas and Water Balloons

**The second chapter is finally done, woot woot!**

**As per usual, disclaimers apply. P3P belongs to Atlus. I can't afford to own it. Not in this lifetime TT_TT**

* * *

**_At Naganaki shrine…_**

The girls left the dorm after freshening up and getting ready. They decided to leave a little early to beat the crowd, but even then the amount of people climbing the stairs to get to the shrine was overwhelming. Luckily, the temperature cooled down significantly enough so that they weren't sweating buckets.

Aigis was the first to speak after successfully making their way up to the shrine. "So this is the 'summer festival'," she vocalized her observation. "It appears that the amount of humans exceeds the normal capacity of the area by approximately 480."

Fuuka giggled at her wording. "That's because there aren't this many people here, usually."

"With all the shops set up everywhere, the atmosphere's completely different," Minako said, her eyes shining with delight. She hadn't been to one of these in ages!

"That aside, is it really alright to bring Aigis along?" Yukari asked worriedly. "Maybe we should have waited for Minato-kun after all…"

At the mention of her brother's name, Minako's cheeks puffed. She felt a little vulnerable without him by her side. She followed her friends further into the shrine with stalls set up left and right, talking as they walked.

"It can't be helped," Mitsuru said. "She really did wish to come after all, and when the Chairman heard, he thought it was a good opportunity to test her ability to interact with a large group of people."

Yukari didn't look convinced at her answer. "I'm sure Ikutsuki-san just thought it'll be amusing or something…" she speculated half-heartedly.

"I guess a girls' night out is a good way to get her familiar with things…" Minako said. Her mood perked up a little at the thought of an exclusive night out with the female members of the team. She had made Social Links with Yukari and Fuuka, after all

Aigis nodded. "This specialized 'Summer Festival' camouflage appears to be functioning perfectly." She lifted her hands, demonstrating the flexibility of the cloth.

Yukari sounded relieved. "Ah…by 'special uniform', you meant a yukata." She couldn't really blame her for not knowing what it's called before, but calling it a 'special uniform' made it sound suspicious.

"I made a request to Mitsuru-san," Aigis informed them.

"We received ours from Kirijo-senpai too," Fuuka said.

"I guess yukatas are the only way to go after all, huh?" For the first time that night, Yukari smiled, finally able to relax. "Thanks for getting them for all four of us."

Mitsuru let out an amused chuckle. "Aigis insisted that we all wore the same 'uniform' after all."

"How is it, Aigis?" Fuuka asked the blonde android.

"Due to how it restricts my legs, it took some practice to adapt to properly." It's true. Aigis was walking slower than usual, her stride smaller and steps unsteady.

"It looks really great on you!" Minako chirped cheerfully, hoping to distract her friend from the discomfort she was experiencing.

"Really great on me?" Aigis repeated, unable to comprehend the meaning. She didn't find anything worth of interest about her 'armor', which consisted of dark blue cotton cloth with white daisies painted on them. Useless in battle, really.

"It means…that it really suits you!"

Aigis smiled. Minako's praise meant a great deal to her. "Then, it looks 'really great' on you all as well."

Yukari blushed. "Thanks!"

The girls continued on their journey, admiring the crafts and masks on display. Most of the game stalls they passed were occupied by children, some of them yelling out their victory, while a few others cried at their loss, begging their parents for another round of games. They took in the sounds of laughter and bartering adults, and the smells of yakisoba on the griddle, grilled eels and sweet candy floss. The crowd got a little thinner as they approached the Inari.

Minako giggled, her cheeks a little pink from the cold. "All of us being in yukatas like this is kinda fun, isn't it?" The flurry of activities surrounding her brought back fond memories. Happy memories before 'that' happened.

"Kirijo-senpai's yukata is really adult-like, isn't it?" Fuuka stated.

Mitsuru flattened the fabric of her yukata. It was pure white with minimal grapes and vine motifs. "Ah…is that so?" she asked, her cheeks turning red from self-consciousness.

Yukari nodded. "With your hair tied up like that, you kinda have this sexy look to you too ~ " she teased, but she wasn't lying. With her Senpai's hair up like that, Mitsuru's smooth neck was exposed, enhancing her exotic beauty.

"You're very beautiful," Fuuka said honestly.

Mitsuru's blush deepened. "Ah… D-don't tease me." Quickly, she diverted their attention onto someone else. "Then, the rest of you as well. You're all dressed rather stylishly as well, aren't you?"

"Uh-huh! Minako-chan has this dignified air about her, it's really cool!" the teal-haired scanner said, taking in the sight of their female leader in a white yukata with pink morning glory motifs. Instead of the Roman numeral hair pins, she replaced them with colorful hair clips.

"The color suits you too. You could practically become a model!" Yukari praised.

"Thanks ~ ! But looking's all you get!" Minako teased. The girls laughed.

"Yukari-chan too," Fuuka continued. Her friend's yukata was a little different. It had peach and white checkerboard pattern with red roses. The simple pattern and colors made the flowers pop. She matched it with a red hibiscus clip on the right side of her head. "That floral pattern is really nice. Wearing it stylishly seems pretty tough, but as expected, you can really pull it off!"

"Same with you, Fuuka," Yukari said. The scanner's yukata had a sky blue background with large sunflowers. The flower patterns engulfed her small frame, but that's what made it work. "Those huge sunflowers are so cute on you."

She blushed adorably. "I'm getting kind of embarrassed…"

"Yukatas give off a very refreshing feeling, don't they? Everyone is so cute ~ " Minako stated the obvious.

"I could have gone without the geta though," Yukari groaned in discomfort. She paused once in a while to adjust her footing. "My toe joints are starting to hurt."

Fuuka tilted her head in curiosity. "Now that you mention it…Aigis, you're not wearing a geta."

"As expected, we couldn't prepare things like that on such short notice," Mitsuru answered.

"It is unfortunate that I could not obtain a complete set of equipment," Aigis said, trying to console her. "However, the geta is unfit for my foot/heel design, and would have impeded my movements."

"It's pretty hard to walk when you're not accustomed to it," Fuuka said.

"Being restricted in one's movements, and being forced to endure pain, it appears that summer festivals are rather severe indeed," Aigis concluded in a serious voice.

Suddenly they heard shouts calling for them. "Hey, welcome!" A plump man in a festival jinbei and hachimaki waved, ushering them to his stall. "You, the foreigner over there!" he called again.

Sensing that the man was addressing her, Aigis returned the gesture. "Are you speaking to me? My name is not 'foreigner'. It is Aigis."

"Your Japanese ain't bad at all!" the stall owner complimented. "How 'bout some okonomiyaki? 'Japanese sauce pancake'!" he said the last sentence in English.

The blonde robot was confused as to why this man bothered to speak English to her when she understood him just fine in Japanese. Still, she answered him anyway. "If it is replenishing my energy reserves, Aigis has – "

"Ahaa – No, she just had her fill a while ago, so…" Yukari quickly interjected before she could finish that last sentence.

"Ah, that's too bad." Despite the disappointment that he couldn't sell these group of girls anything, he still had a smile on his face. "If you're hungry, make sure to remember us, alright!"

Yet another stand owner called for them. This time, from a game stand. Oddly enough, his appearance was similar to the okonomiyaki seller. Could they be related? "Oh, the young lady over there! If you're not hungry now, how 'bout trying a yo-yo game?"

"Yo-yo? Are you referring to a species of loach?" Aigis asked.

Humored, Mitsuru answered her. "No, he's talking about the water balloons over there. It's a game where you try to obtain the water balloons."

"Look, on those water balloons, there's a red area, right? You have to try and aim for those areas with a hook and try to retrieve them," Fuuka explained further.

"I see."

"Then in that case, why don't we all give it a try?" Mitsuru asked.

"That's a great idea." Fuuka took out her money pouch. "Then, Mister, we'd like some hooks!"

"Then, here ya go. Good luck!" The stand owner handed them a hook attached to the end of some rope made of tissue paper each after receiving payment. The high school girls crouched in front of a few basins filled with water after receiving their hooks. Bobbing inside the small tubs were balloons filled with a little water, tied at the ends with rubber bands.

Yukari fidgeted at the seemingly daunting task. "But now…I'm feeling nervous. I've never won at this before," she admitted.

"When you're trying to hook a balloon, there's actually a trick to it," Fuuka explained, demonstrating how to hold the rope properly.

"Huh? You sound pretty confident, Fuuka."

"Hehe…just a little."

"Wow…" Yukari was impressed. She turned to her other friend. "Hey Minako, what about – " The splashing of water cut her off. " . . . "

Minako's eyes were starting to glisten, looking like she was about to cry. Luckily, she pulled herself together and grinned as if it was no big deal. "Heh, it's over…" she breathed. Her yukata was a little wet from the splashed water.

"TOO FAST!" Yukari almost shrieked.

_*A little while later…*_

The girls were surrounding Fuuka as she fished out yet another balloon from the basin.

Minako clapped her hands. "Woah! Fuuka got another one!"

"Excellent!" Mitsuru praised. Those who knew her could tell she's impressed when she starts speaking English or French.

Aigis watched on with wide eyes. "It is a technique of a pro!"

"So that makes…" Yukari counted the balloons in Fuuka's possession. "FOUR?!"

"N-not bad, young lady…" The stand owner was starting to sweat. This was probably his first record-breaking customer. "You're practically runnin' me outta business…"

Fuuka let out another triumphant sound as she fished another balloon out of the water. But alas, the tissue rope had gotten wet from the previous attempts and finally broke, sending the balloon splashing back into the basin. "…Ahh!"

"Aaahh…" Yukari and Minako groaned girlishly.

"It appears that one was a failure," Aigis stated.

"It was so close though…" Minako said.

The stall owner felt bad for that close victory, three of the girls were making faces akin to kicked puppies. "Hmmmm…" He didn't have to think long and hard about it, and he was feeling pretty generous at the moment. "Well, you still did pretty good! Go ahead and take the fifth one too."

Fuuka was taken aback. "H-huh? Is that okay?"

"No one else was able to get one, right?"

"Yeah…" Yukari said, embarrassed.

"It'd be a shame if one of you was left out, after all. It's on me."

Fuuka's eyes sparkled. "Waaah...! Thank you very much!" She gave the man a low bow.

The stand owner blushed. "This old man's weak against cute girls, after all," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Minako and Yukari bowed as well.

Mitsuru smiled at him gratefully. "Proprietor, you truly are generous. Thank you," she said in her usual formal manner.

"Callin' me 'proprietor' is kinda…"

"Then, we won't thank you," Aigis deadpanned, not understanding the situation at all.

Yukari stopped her before she could go far. "No, we don't need that kind of gag." She bowed to the stand owner once again. "Anyway, thank you very much!"

The rest of the SEES girls thanked him again cheerfully before leaving.

"Thanks! Come back again, okay?" the stall owner grinned, waving them goodbye.

Happily, the girls walked away with their prizes.

"That was truly magnificent, Fuuka-san," Aigis said.

"Thanks. And he gave us that freebie too."

The Anti-Shadow weapon however, understood things differently. "The proprietor told us that he has a weakness to 'cute young ladies'. It seems that Fuuka-san fulfilled the requirements and inflicted a critical hit."

"A-Aigis…Giving a girl a bonus is just how things are in events like this…it was a courtesy, okay?" Fuuka corrected her.

"So in summer festivals, being a young woman is a powerful weapon."

Mitsuru chuckled, thinking Aigis' naivety to be cute. "No, it's not such a hard and fast rule."

"Well, it probably wouldn't work out as well for boys, though," Yukari pointed out. "Giving special service to girls is pretty common, really….though I guess it's slightly more complicated than that."

Aigis nodded, taking that as a cue to change the subject. "That aside, what purpose does this 'yo-yo' serve?" she asked, holding up the balloon tied to a string. It had some water inside to weigh it down.

Fuuka took it in stride to explain it to her. "Well, you take this little loop at the end of the string and…ah, here, I'll show you." She hooked the loop onto her middle finger and let the partially filled balloon dangle. "Here, you play it like this." Tugging the string upward, the balloon gained enough momentum to hit her palm, and bounced up and down, much like a normal toy yo-yo would.

Fascinated, Aigis wanted to try it for herself. "I see…so you tie it to your hand and – " She tugged the string with too much force, causing the balloon to collide with her metallic hand and exploded, splashing water on her yukata. "It seems to have broken."

"Ahhh..." the junior SEES girls sighed disappointedly.

"Even though you have obtained it for me…I apologize," Aigis said, crestfallen.

Fuuka had other things to worry about. "That aside, you didn't get splashed, did you?"

"Yes. There has been no damage to my specialized uniform." Good thing she was built to be water-proof.

* * *

**I'll try to post the third chapter soon. As you can see (if you watched the Youtube videos of the drama CD), I kept most of the translated dialogue intact. Not much of the boys in this one, but they will make appearances in the upcoming chapters.**

**Read and review! It's my brain food!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Trouble with Magicians

**I have decided to post this chapter early, seeing as the next one might be coming late. Chinese New Year break just ended and its back to work for me. *Sobs***

**I do not own P3P, its story and the characters, and never will. Atlus does. I only own the changes I made to this fanfic.**

* * *

After the short incident with the water balloons, the girls' yukatas have dried and they continued to explore the summer festival stands. As luck would have it, they encountered Junpei, and he wasn't alone.

"Yo! Everyone's gathered, I see." The class clown raised a hand in greeting, giving his usual goofball grin. He wore his normal summer clothes consisting of a black tank top, jeans and his baseball cap.

Minato smiled at them politely. "Hey." Unlike his twin, he wasn't wearing anything fancy; just a cotton T-shirt and jeans.

Fuuka stared at them, not expecting more company. "Junpei-kun…Minato-kun…"

"So someone did ask you out on a date after all!" Yukari teased loudly, unsurprised by the absence of a girl wanting to come to the festival with him.

Minako didn't look too happy. "Onii-chan, why are you with these guys instead of escorting us around?" she pouted. She wasn't really that mad, just disappointed that he didn't tell her he was going with someone else.

Luckily, her brother had an excuse. "I left the dorm a bit later because I was taking a nap…bumped into them while wondering around looking for you." He petted her head. _"I'll buy you some taiyaki later, okay?"_ he whispered in her ear. She smiled immediately at the mention of free food, and dessert at that.

Junpei's grin lost some of its shine. "Oh, you mean this guy?" He motioned to another teenage boy in his group.

"Hey there, all! It's everyone's favorite idol, Tomochika-kun!" Tomochika Kenji, a classmate of the juniors sans Fuuka, made his appearance known with exuberance.

"Uwaa…" Yukari groaned in disdain.

Not one to dawdle on introductions, Kenji quickly pointed out the main thing that had caught his eye. "But man, those yukata are a sight for sore eyes!" he said loudly, looking behind him. "You guys could have worn them too, you know."

"Oh, shut up already," a girl's voice scolded exasperatedly. It was Iwasaki Rio, the future captain of the tennis club. Beside her was Nishiwaki Yuko, the manager of the kendo club.

Minako was delighted. "Ah! Rio, and Yuko too. You guys came!"

"It's because Tomochika didn't want to come alone and came crying to me," Rio informed her, not happy about the reason she was here.

Yuko's lips formed a teasing grin. "And I'm here 'cause Iwasaki came crying to me ~"

"W-wha – I so wasn't crying!"

"Oh ~ ? Would have preferred to come with Tomochika alone then?" Yuko teased some more.

Rio bristled at that. "Wh-what are you saying?! There's no way I wanna be alone with this idiot!"

"You hear that, Junpei?" Kenji said, nudging Junpei's ribs.

"No, she's talking about you!" the capped junior retorted.

Minato shook his head, unsurprised by such immature behavior from the Magicians. "It applies to both of you," he pointed out.

Giggles escaped from Fuuka's lips. "You all really get along, don't you?" she mentioned shyly.

Yukari raised an eyebrow at that. "Though it's hard to tell whether they get along well or poorly," she said.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself, have I? Good evening, I'm Nishiwaki Yuko!"

"Good evening!" the junior girls replied.

"Good evening," Mitsuru responded formally.

"Good evening!" Aigis said, a bit in monotone.

"You're the manager of one of the boy's sports clubs, right?" Fuuka asked Yuko.

"Yup, that's right. I manage the kendo club, where Arisato-kun here is one of our valued members." She patted Rio's shoulder. "This here's Iwasaki Rio-chan."

"She's in the same club as I am!" Minako said.

"G-good evening…" Rio stuttered. Her posture seem to shrink as Mitsuru landed her gaze on the tennis player.

"Huh?" Kenji wrinkled his nose at her behavior. "Rio, what're you nervous about?"

She poked him in the sides. "You idiot! The student council president is right here!" she whisper-scolded.

Yuko stared at them one by one: the polar opposite twins, a class clown, Miss Popular, the shy honor student, the icy student council president and a blonde foreign transfer student. "It's a pretty unique gathering, isn't it?" she observed.

"We all live in the same dorm!" Minako told them.

"Seriously?! Man, I want to live in that dorm, too!" Kenji exclaimed. "Dammit Junpei, Minato, I'm practically overflowing with jealousy to the point that I might explode."

Junpei started to sweat, not because of the summer. "No…I wonder if it's really that great…"

" We try to stay out of trouble, or else…" Minato said, taking a glance at the Kirijo heiress.

Mitsuru chuckled. She felt a little out of place seeing as she was the only senior there. "We're going to go further in, then." She turned around to head in another direction. "Shall we, Aigis?"

Eager to explore more, Aigis obliged. "Hai!"

The red-head gave them a curt nod. "Then, if you'll excuse us."

Rio quickly gave her reply. "Ah, yes…thank you."

Mitsuru and Aigis walked away, passing by a row of stalls selling masks.

"Mitsuru-san, there are a lot of faces lined up over there," Aigis stated.

"Those are masks," the juniors could hear Mitsuru explain.

"It feels like a special disguise…" was Aigis' last sentence before their voices faded away into the crowd that was picking up again.

Yuko felt a little bad. "I wondered if we annoyed her, since we're all second-years…"

"I think…it was because of Aigis," Minako said.

Kenji had another train of thought. "Was Aigis…that blonde-haired girl? She lives at the dorm too?" he asked. Minato could make out the desperation in his voice.

"Well…yeah," Junpei answered.

"Wow, isn't she totally cute?!"

The capped young man could only sigh. "Only her looks…"

"Looks can fool you…" Minato said sagely. The memory of Aigis pointing a gun to his face the first thing when he woke up in the morning popped out of nowhere, caused him to shudder inwardly. His sister gave him a reassuring smile, having faced the same experience though not as severe.

"Eh?"

Junpei conveniently changed the topic. "Anyway, what's with this? Everyone's wearing a yukata! Ain't this great, Tomochika ~ ?" His demeanor changed into that of a giddy child who saw something different for the first time.

"Yes, it is ~ " Kenji sing-songed. "It feels different than the usual."

"Yeah, everyone is really cute!" Yuko praised.

The SEES girls blushed. "Thank you!" they said simultaneously.

"Maybe I should have worn a yukata too…" Yuko sighed. She glared at the two guys beside her. "Because Tomochika and Iori are here, I didn't want to, but…"

Minato smirked at his two friends, knowing the reason for Yuko's disdain.

"Eh…what do you mean by that?" Junpei asked stupidly.

"It's exactly as I said. Iwasaki, you can tie the sash on your own, right? You should have worn one."

"Huh…? Uh, yeah…" Rio answered hesitantly. "But, it wouldn't suit me."

"Yeah. Rio just isn't 'yukata material'," Kenji said without thinking.

Fuuka was confused at his statement. "Huh? That's not true!" she refuted. "Iwasaki-san has nice, black hair. And her skin is white. I think she'd look nice in it."

Rio blushed, a little happy. "Huh?! Y-you think so?"

Kenji wasn't satisfied with Fuuka's rebuttal. "But we're talking 'bout Rio, y'know?" He motioned at the athletic girl, who wore training sweats over a white tank top. "It's just wrong, ain't it?"

Minato wished his friend and classmate didn't have such an outspoken mouth, especially considering the conversation was against a bunch of girls. "You should have kept your mouth shut…" he sighed, fighting the urge to facepalm.

Yukari's temper was rising, and so did her voice. "Huh?! Wrong?!"

The female Arisato was the same. "Your words are 'wrong'!"

"That was a bit…mean, right?" Fuuka asked, her voice a little shaky.

"Just who do you think you are?!" The brunette archer poked him in the chest.

Kenji slightly backs away. "H-huh…?"

Fortunately, Junpei was there to save him. "A-ah…! You see…This guy's into older women," he told them as if that answered everything. "If we go by that, Rio-chin is just 'wrong' for him."

Minato really did facepalm this time.

Having a wingman by his side made Kenji more confident. "Yep, that's it! Rio is childish, so, when she wears a yukata or any type of female clothing, I just don't wanna see it." It would seem that his foolishness increased as well.

"Well, that's where this comes in! We can make this into 'gap-moe', right?" Junpei said, a dreamy look in his eyes. "A girl who is usually cheerful, will become, only during those summer nights, melancholic." His imagination churned up an image of a pale-skinned woman under the moonlight, with sad eyes and plump, full lips, waiting for someone to take away her sadness. A perverted smile appeared on his face.

Kenji didn't share Junpei's vision. "Well, I understand how you feel…I guess if it's not an adult, I lose interest, right?" He laced his fingers behind his head. "When they wear something different than the usual, they start acting weirder than usual. A yukata looks more erotic if it's loose. When I see it all tied up, I wanna scream: 'Don't come near me!'"

Junpei had enough sense to snap out of his daydream. "Ah, Tomochika, that's – " He wasn't fast enough to stop his friend's loose tongue.

A certain blunette had already stepped aside from the warzone that was about to ensue. "Just don't lump me with them," he told the girls.

"Traitor!" Junpei wailed.

Yukari was pissed. "It seems like you're having an interesting conversation…" she said, her voice dangerously low and scratchy.

Minako's aura was even scarier. "We're so~rry that we act weirder than usual." Her voice was deceivingly sweet.

Frightened, Junpei hid behind Minato. "You see what you did?" he squeaked, wishing his friend would take the hint and get the hell out of there.

Kenji was stupidly oblivious to the warning signs. "Huh? We're not talking about you, Takeba-san…"

"Then you're talking about Rio?" Minako queried, though she already knew the answer. "That's what I mean by 'wrong'!"

"Uh, well…I don't really mind," the tennis player said, squirming a little. "I think that it's 'wrong' on me, too."

"See?! Rio says it too!"

The kendo club manager was also getting annoyed. "You think 'cause 'Rio says it too' you can – "

"Nishiwaki, it's okay." Rio held her friend back. "Tomochika has been like this since he was a kid. He's never treated me like a female…and – "

"Yup, that's right!" Kenji cut her off. "I feel like I can say anything to her. Something like siblings…"

"Siblings…" Rio repeated, instantly deflated by the word.

"We're more like…male siblings."

Minato really wished Kenji would shut the hell up. "Aaaaaand things just got worse…." he mumbled.

"HUH?!" Minako, Yukari and Yuko yelled. The amount of hostility those three radiated was enough to scare people away from their group.

"What are you trying to do?! One day, Iwasaki's gonna abandon you!" Yukari scolded, shaking a finger in front of his face.

"Actually, why don't you do that now?" Minako told her fellow club member.

Her twin brother approached Rio and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "You should."

"Eh?!" Rio almost screamed in disbelief.

"Harsh!" Kenji exclaimed. "Rio wouldn't do that, right?" he implored his childhood friend.

Rio wasn't certain anymore. "Umm…yeah…" she answered hesitantly.

Yukari has had enough. "Hey, Junpei." She hit his arm repeatedly. "Take Tomochika-kun and leave already!"

"What? Is he that annoying?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Come on! Look, Minako-chan seems really angry."

Junpei gulped. "Ah…she may be smiling, but her eyes sure aren't…"

Back to the twins, their mouths weren't saying a word, but judging by the scary smile Minako had and the sweat forming on Minato's brow, they were silently communicating with each other.

_'Onii-chan ~~ make Tomochika-kun go away before I kill him ~ '_ She was pinching his arm so hard that he feared that small portion of skin would rip off.

_'I get it, I get it! Let go already!'_

Fearing for his friend's life, Junpei quickly slung his arms around Kenji's shoulders. "H-hey, Tomochika!" he called, before pulling him away. "Your friend has a stall, right? Let's go see 'em!"

"Oh, yeah he does!"

"I'll go with you," Minato said.

"See ya later, Rio-chin!" Junpei waved at the girls, letting go of a relieved sigh now that the danger was over.

Rio's dark eyes widened as the boys walked away. "Huh? You're going somewhere else?"

Yuko was having none of it. "Bye, Tomochika," she enunciated, holding Rio's wrist to waved them farewell. "C'mon Rio, wave."

"Uh, yeah…"

Oblivious as ever, Kenji waved back. "Well then, g'night everyone!"

"B-bye bye!" Yukari said.

"Oh! Good night!" Fuuka said, giving a small bow.

The girls could hear some of their conversation as they walked away. "Geez, don't do that again…" Junpei whined as he berated Kenji for his low EQ.

Kenji was still defensive. "But I didn't do anything wrong! Minato, you're supposed to have my back."

"Not when my sister's wrath is upon you. You got lucky this time…" They disappeared into the crowd further up ahead.

Once the boys were gone, the girls vented out their frustrations. "Geez…who's the kid here?" Yuko groaned.

"Seriously…those two have no delicacy whatsoever. I wish they'd learn more from Minato-kun," Yukari said.

Fuuka had a different perspective. "But, the fact that the two of you can say anything to each other…makes me kind of envious." She blushed a little. "I'm the type of person…who can't talk to others so readily."

"Talking to your fellow girl is much easier, right?" Yukari said.

"Yes, that's why, I'm glad that Minako-chan and Yukari-chan are there for me at the dorm." Her eyes widened when she realized she had left out her male teammates. "Oh! It's not that I don't trust Junpei-kun or Minato-kun!"

"We know. Anyways…why have you been so quiet, Minako-chan?"

Said girl was wearing a frown. "That bastard…" she began. "I'll go knock some sense into him!" Her hands were balled into fists as she turned around to chase after Kenji.

Luckily, Yukari's reflexes were just as fast. "Hey! Don't do that!" she shouted as she held their female leader back.

"I-it's really fine! I'm fine with it," Rio said, trying to calm her down.

"It's fine if you **_do_ **mind!" Yuko scolded. "He's being too spoiled by you. He'll reflect on everything if you leave him, right?"

"But…it's not like I want him to…"

"Unbelievable…you're way too kind!" Yukari groaned. But then a thought hit her. "Huh…could it be that…you like…?"

Rio started to fluster. "Huh? Uh, well I…yeah…" There was no denying it anymore.

"Eh…? EEEEHHHH?!" the archer shouted her disbelief.

"You see?" the naginata wielder pointed out the problem, having known all this for a while now.

"He's a good person," Rio defended Kenji.

"I don't think he is if he almost made you cry," Yuko said, still angry.

"He's just an idiot," Minako stated.

The scanner finally realized something. "Then…he was really being mean earlier…" She recalled how thoughtless Kenji's words were. Rio must be devastated.

"Minako-chan, I can see why you're so angry before," Yukari said.

"Did it show?" she asked sheepishly.

"Definitely."

"Does Tomochika-kun…know?" Fuuka asked.

"No, he doesn't. I never told him." Rio shook her head. "And I doubt he'll think that way."

"If he said that, and he knew…then I'll **_really_ **beat him up!" Yuko fumed.

"Right?!" Minako and Yukari agreed.

None of the noticed Mitsuru approaching them until she asked "What are you making a fuss about?"

"You all seem to be quite angry," Aigis stated her observation.

"Where are Iori, Arisato and the other one? Have they gone home?"

"Don't care," Minako sniffed.

Mitsuru gave her a gentle smile. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"They said something to annoy us, so we drove them away. They really have no delicacy," Yukari said.

Yuko nodded. "Compared to children, they're way too childish."

"By your standards, everyone seem childish to you," Rio pointed out. "Especially Miyamoto-kun."

"It's like he never grew up!" The kendo manager threw her arms in the air in frustration at the mention of the injured athlete.

Yukari agreed. "Even Amada-kun is more mature than him."

"Maybe," Fuuka said. "Sometimes Junpei-kun is really reckless too."

"I think my brother is the most mature guy in our group. But then again, he does have his moments…" Minako trailed off.

Surprisingly, Aigis nodded in agreement "Sanada-san can't beat Amada-san either. Every time he is with Amada-san, my sensors detect nervousness."

"Sen…sors?" Rio asked, wondering what that has to do with their conversation.

"Ahhh…she's a transfer student, so her Japanese isn't so good," Mitsuru quickly covered that up.

Fuuka giggled. "Sanada-senpai isn't that good with kids, huh?"

"Sanada-senpai…isn't he the captain of the boxing team?" Rio asked.

"That's right. He even has a fan club too," Yukari added.

"Sanada-senpai lives at the dorm too?" Yuko was curious now. "What's he like?"

Minako tilted her head, finger on her chin. "Hmm…it's kinda hard to describe him…"

Mitsuru answered that for her. "Akihiko hasn't changed since I met him. Even though his juniors are worried about him, he still conducts like a child."

"He always wants to do the impossible, right?" Fuuka said.

The senior chuckled. "Yes. I can't say he has any delicacy either."

"Yeah, he just gets these impulses sometimes," Yukari explained further, as if that answered everything.

"How surprising, since he looks really mature." Yuko was having difficulty comparing Akihiko's golden boy image to what the girls just told her. "Maybe there's no such thing as a mature guy."

"Ah! What about him?" Yukari suddenly said. "The guy who helped us at Port Island station?"

Minako's eyes widened. "Aragaki-san?"

"Kirijo-senpai, do you know who he is? It seems like he's Sanada-senpai's friend."

"Yes. He may not be attending now, but he's registered as a third year at our school," Mitsuru answered.

"He didn't tell us that," Minako mumbled.

"He looks scary, but he seems like a nice guy," Yukari said, not noticing how her classmate's cheeks were turning pink.

"Is he the one who helped Natsuki-chan and the others?" Fuuka wondered.

"I think I've heard of him too!" Rio interjected. "When some of the girls from our club got drunk, he helped them. I wonder if we're talking about the same person…"

Mitsuru seemed surprised at this information. "I see…Aragaki had…"

Rio continued. "And then, he'd scold them by saying: 'Don't be hanging around here anymore!' or something like that."

"We got scolded too, huh?" Yukari rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"He often scolded Akihiko as well," Mitsuru said, recalling memories of them living in the dorm together.

"He scolded Sanada-senpai? Don't you scold Sanada-senpai too, Kirijo-senpai?" Minako teased.

"T-that's not – "

Her dorm mates giggled and continued to tease her. "You do ~~ Right? ~~ Yes you do!"

**_At Iwatodai Dorm…_**

The silver-haired boxer let out a sneeze, startling the Shiba Inu by his feet.

"Is the A/C too cold for you?" the newest addition to the dorm asked.

"No, I don't think that's – " He sneezed again. "What the…?"

"Maybe someone's talking about you?" the boy chuckled, before he too let out a sneeze.

"Is it Koromaru's fur?" Akihiko wondered.

Koromaru whined. Minako had just brushed his fur that morning! But he didn't stay mad when Akihiko said "Oh yeah! I was supposed to walk Koromaru today. Guess I should go." He barked his excitement.

"Have a safe trip!" Ken said.

"What course should I take…?" the boxing champion wondered. "Naganaki shrine is probably holding a festival…"

"Yukari-san and the other girls were talking about yukatas earlier…have they gone to the festival?"

"Yeah. They made Aigis wear one, and left the cheerfully." Akihiko rummaged the drawer in the registration counter for Koromaru's leash.

"Aigis-san as well?!"

"Junpei seems to have gone too, and I think I saw Minato leave after that. You don't want to go, Amada?"

Ken shook his head. "No…I'm not interested in those things."

"Oh."

"And you, Sanada-san?"

"I dislike it when there's a lot of people."

"Me too."

Akihiko was just about to leave with Koromaru, who wagged his tail vigorously. "You haven't had supper yet, right? Shall I buy something for you?" he offered.

"I-it's fine," Ken held his palms up to reject him politely. "I'd feel bad for you…"

"It's fine! I'm buying something too."

"W-well then…" Still unsure of himself, Ken asked the next best thing. "Oh, what are you getting, Sanada-san? A beef bowl?"

"Let's see…Either a beef bowl at Umiushi, or a hamburger at Wild Duck Burger. There's also takoyaki at Octopia."

The thought of the soft, hot, fluffy balls of pancake-coated octopus had the boy drooling a little. "Takoyaki…it tastes good if it's sauce flavored."

"Yeah." Akihiko smiled. "When you think of festivals, you think of…"

"Okonomiyaki…or yakisoba…" Ken continued.

"Okonomiyaki…haven't had those in a while…"

"Me too…" Just then, Ken's stomach growled as if in agreement.

Akihiko stifled a chuckle. "If you want okonomiyaki, then we should buy some at the shrine."

"But, it's not like I really want some," he denied stubbornly. "I was thinking of having some if you had some too."

"Well, I was going to have some if you were going too."

" I was going to have some if you did too."

Koromaru has had enough of the back and forth dialogue the two humans were having. He barked his displeasure as he tugged the leash Akihiko was holding.

The senior got the message. "Shall we go get some together?"

Ken brightened. "Hai!"

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**Read and more importantly, review. I have baked some awesome cyber cookies mixed with marshmallows of my imagination and chocolate chips of love. Only reviewers will receive them :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Signs of Love

**Please don't kill me! I come bearing gifts for a belated White Day...and this update!**

**Sorry this took so long, guys. Work-related and family-related issues had been popping up. Please leave your feedback at the end of the page to help me improve my writing!**

**Disclaimer: The Persona series, its characters and everything belong to Atlus. I'm merely a fan riding the hype train to P5!**

* * *

**_Back at Naganaki shrine…_**

Girlish laughter echoed throughout the night as the Gekkoukan High female students moved to a quieter place to take a break, a little ways away from the people and crowds. They ended up at the highest point of the hill, near the entrance of the main temple.

Yuko bent down, settling her hands on her knees. Her ribs were still sore from the exhilaration and laughter. "I laughed so hard!" she said, still trying to reign in her giggles. "To think the student council president was this mischievous. It's surprising!"

Mitsuru blushed. "I-is…is that so? I thought this type of thing was normal." By 'normal', she meant arguing with cheapskate stall owners, nearly breaking a man's arm for copping a feel, and her lack of knowledge in common street food etiquette, which somewhat ended in hilarious disaster.

"It's pretty mischievous!" Yuko giggled again. She was cut off by her ringing phone. "Ah, I got a text."

"Is it from Miyamoto?" Rio asked. "What did he say?"

"'Did you get the candied apples yet…!?' is what it says. I totally forgot about that."

"He should have just come with you," Minako pointed out.

Yuko sighs. "He has a stomach ache, so he's staying home to sleep it off." Minako wrinkled her nose at the answer. She would have to talk to her brother about Kazushi and his baby-ish ways when they got back.

Rio nudged the dirt under her shoe. "Nishiwaki…thanks for tagging along with me," she said. The night was getting colder and the tennis player shivered a little.

"It's fine." The kendo club manager looked at her watch. "Though, I have to go home now." She turned to Rio, hand on her hips. "What are you going to do? Are you going to see that idiot Tomochika again?"

After an uncertain moment, Rio gave her answer. "I'll go home too."

"Yeah, it's completely fine to ditch him and go home early!" Yuko huffed, her righteous anger has yet to ebb away.

Rio had a melancholic expression on her face. "It'll be nice if notices one day…" She walked alongside her fellow athlete and friend, and waved to the rest. "Well then, bye! Good night."

Yuko waved as well. "See ya ~ Take care of Iori-kun!"

"Bye-bye! See you again!" Yukari, Minako and Fuuka said together.

"Be careful," Mitsuru reminded them.

Aigis bowed formally. "Have a good day."

The SEES girls watched the two athletes climb down the small hill and out of sight.

"So, what should we do now? Wanna go eat?" Yukari suggested. "But more importantly…" her voice suddenly sounded desperate, "does someone have a bandage?"

"Why?" Mitsuru asked.

"The strings on these things are so tight, I feel like my toes are about to rip off!" the brunette whined, pointing to her wooden sandals, or geta.

"Mine's already bleeding…" Minako mentioned nonchalantly.

"Hey – Tell us earlier!" Yukari reprimanded worriedly.

Fuuka reached into her purse. "I have a band-aid," she declared.

"I'll take it!" Minako and Yukari chorused.

"As expected of Fuuka!" the female leader praised.

"To be so prepared, you're so girly ~" Yukari teased.

Fuuka blushed slightly. "It was just in my purse," she mumbled, embarrassed.

"Let us find a place to sit at."

"There's a bench over there," Mitsuru pointed.

The girls happily took a seat and began addressing their wounds. A little while later, Yukari finished applying the bandage on Minako's feet. "Yosh! Treatment complete!"

"Are you okay?" Fuuka asked.

Minako beamed at them. "Yeah! My little toe hurts a little though…" She wiggled her injured toe for emphasis.

"We only need to stretch this string, correct?" Aigis asked, picking up the geta that was responsible for her charge's injury.

"Y-yeah!"

"Please leave this to me!" the android declared. Pulling on the plastic strings in hopes of stretching it, she was unaware of the strength she put into the action. Without warning, the geta string snapped in two. "It seems to have broken," she deadpanned.

"Aigis…" Yukari groaned.

"I apologize."

Minako touched her cheek. "This is troubling…"

"Shall I get you something else to wear?" Mitsuru offered.

Aigis was pumped up for some reason. "I shall take responsibility and carry you. My carrying capacity is over 300 kilos."

"No, well, we can't…" Yukari objected to the idea. "It's going to be weird."

"I'd rather not do something that could make us stand out," Mitsuru agreed.

Despite not understanding why it would be weird, Aigis relented. "That is unfortunate."

Minako stood up. "I wonder if I can walk with one geta…" she wondered, and started to skittishly walk along the path on a pair of feet with only one sandal.

"That's dangerous! You might step on glass!" Fuuka warned.

"Then…give me the other one. I think I'll be fine if I just limp with it." She hobbled slowly, trying not to let the broken geta slip off her feet. "See? I think I'll be f – Hyaaa ~ !" she yelled, and stumbled onto the grass, falling flat on her face. The broken geta slipped off and went flying.

Yukari was right by her side instantly. "Are you alright?!"

"Is it an enemy attack!?" Aigis queried seriously.

Rubbing her nose, the auburn-haired girl picked herself back up. "Owww…No, I just fell!" she replied.

Fuuka looked around for the missing sandal. "Your geta…I think it fell somewhere over there." She pointed to the stairs where they climbed to get here. "I'll go get it for you."

Aigis stopped her. "Fuuka-san , your foot…especially your little toe. It seems to have acquired a lot of damage. Therefore, I should be the one to retrieve it!"

"Well then, Aigis and I will go get it," Mitsuru said.

Aigis took the order a little too seriously. "Jet propulsion act–"

"Cease actions," Mitsuru ordered quickly. She was about to turn around and look for the missing geta until someone else appeared, climbing the stairs.

At first sight, Yukari didn't recognize them. "Huh?" She squinted her eyes, before they opened wide after recognizing who it was; the guy who saved her and her friends in the alleyway. He was a tall, young man with broad shoulders and radiated hostility. He wore a maroon pea coat over a black turtleneck, brown boots and black slacks. A black beanie covered a head of messy, unkempt brown hair.

"Aragaki…" Mitsuru muttered.

Shinjiro's eyes also widened, recognizing a few familiar faces. "Yo. It's rare seeing you here," he said, not wanting to sound rude. Minako was surprised seeing this rather polite side of him, until she realized that there wasn't a single guy in sight except himself.

"Could you be the rumored…" the words escaped Fuuka's lips when she remembered what they guys told her had happened a little while before her rescue. This man does seem to fit their description.

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow. "Rumor…?"

"I-I'm sorry!" she squeaked.

Yukari came to her rescue. "We told her about the time you saved us in that alley at Port Island!" She gave him a smile of gratitude.

"You had saved them swiftly," Aigis praised.

The young man looked away, rubbing the back of his head. "O-oh…"

"Thanks for helping us back then!" Minako said, standing up to bow at him.

Mitsuru smiled, humored by the fact that the juniors didn't realize her fellow senior (if he even bothered to attend school) was blushing slightly. "It seems that many of our students have been under your care," she told him. "Allow me to express my gratitude as well. Thank you."

"I only helped them 'cuz they were being loud." He scowled at her. Her expression remained neutral, as she was used to receiving them for a long time "Tell them to find another place to loiter around."

"Understood. I will bring that up in the next meeting." Moving away from that topic, Mitsuru vocalized her current observation. "However, this is rare. Have you…come to see the festival too?"

Shinjiro shrugged. "No. I was passing by, then I heard "Hyaaa~!" and this came flying at me." He held out a familiar wooden object and threw it on the ground, the loud 'Clonk!' resonated in the silent area.

"Ah, that geta!" Yukari pointed.

"It's mine!" Minako said.

"It's your fault again…?" The young man sighed, though he didn't seem surprised. "How did that even happen?"

The female leader's cheeks reddened. "I seem to meet your expectations…" she admitted shyly.

Yukari, Fuuka and Mitsuru silently watched the interaction between the rough delinquent and their fearless, cheerful leader. It was as if they were in their own little world. What astonished them was how gentle the taller man was behaving towards her, his words carefully chosen so as to not cause any hurt. For Mitsuru, this was a side of him she had never witnessed before.

"I wasn't expecting anything. Trying to change the weather?" he joked.

Minako gave him an indignant pout. "No! The string…came off."

"It came off?" He picked up the sandal and examined it. "Yeah, you're right. How the hell did you do this? Even some of the metal parts are twisted."

Whatever magic moment the two had, was broken by Aigis. "I had tried to stretch it, but when I pulled–"

"Aigis, shhhh!" Fuuka scolded sharply.

Shinjiro scratched his head. "Geez…'guess there's no choice…" He reached into his pocket and took out a handkerchief, only to tear it in half.

"Are you sure you want to use your handkerchief?" Yukari asked.

"It's shabby anyways." The young man then began to loop the scrap cloth into the wooden sandal and tied the ends in intricate knots, securing them tightly.

The girls watch in awe. "How skillful…" Mitsuru commented.

"I see! You make a big loop, then stick it in so it won't escape through the gap," Fuuka said, understanding why he did it that way.

"It was originally designed this way." He bent down on one knee, holding out the fixed geta. "Here, put it on."

"Ah, yes!" Minako sat down on the bench, giving him her foot. He gently grabbed her ankle, slipping the sandal on. Minako's cheeks reddened even more, as she felt his warm, calloused hands on her skin. Thank goodness it was dark, and Shinjiro only stared at the ground. She may or might not have imagined his finger lingering on the band-aid between her toes before letting go of her ankle and got up.

"It won't come off, right?" he asked.

Minako stood up and started to walk around. "Yeah, it totally works!" She gave him a smile, so huge and bright that the young man had to look away. As mentioned before, it was dark, which he's glad for.

"Wow, you fixed it!" Yukari said, impressed.

"It should hold until you get back home," he told Minako.

"Thank you very much!"

Aigis nodded. "Another technique of a pro," she stated.

"It's almost reminiscent of Sugata Sanshiro…" Mitsuru said, holding her chin in thought.

"The street fighter, right?"

The brunette girl sweatdropped at the weird conversation. "Where did you get that information…?"

Not wanting to stay longer than necessary, Shinjiro turned to leave. "Well then, I'll be leaving if you're okay now." He stopped in his tracks when he heard Mitsuru chuckle. "What?" he asked irritably.

"Nothing. You were worried, weren't you? Since you heard screams, and the geta came flying. So you climbed all the way up here…"

"I just though I heard some idiots," he scoffed.

"As I though, you're really kind ~" Yukari said, teasing him a little.

"Don't be stupid." Blunt as ever. Under normal circumstances, that line would have made girls cry. Luckily, the girls took it in stride and understood that it was just him being himself.

"Thanks," Mitsuru said again.

Minako bowed again. "Thank you very much!"

Shinjiro's cheeks heated up again. "Quit repeating that."

"Oh, umm…!" Fuuka stammered. "Are you leaving without attending the festival? You came all this way…"

He waved her off. "Festivals just ain't my style. I just came to look for someone. Since people came, he probably left."

"We'll help you look!" Minako offered her help. "Are you looking for a person?"

" No…It's a dog–" Having said too much, Shinjiro cleared his throat to change the subject. "It's got nothing to do with you guys. Bye." He turns one last time to give them a word of warning. "You guys better head back too."

As usual, Aigis came up with her own reply. "No need to worry. I have switched to night vision mode. My vision is satisfactory."

"Huh?"

"Oh, umm! She means that she has good night vision!" Fuuka said, attempting to throw him off from what Aigis actually meant, literally.

Shinjiro rubbed the back of his head. "That's not what I meant! Tch, you really don't have a sense of danger, do you?"

"We seem to be causing you trouble," Mitsuru stated, her eyes alight with mirth.

Before he could really leave, Shinjiro had to know one more thing. "I'm afraid to ask, but…Has Aki…been eating proper meals?"

"Yes, as expected of an athlete, he's eating plenty of meat. If I recall right, he likes to eat at a restaurant called 'Umiushi'."

He sighed. "I was wrong for asking you." Nothing much has changed on that front.

"Do you have any messages for Akihiko?"

"Eat more vegetables."

Mitsuru chuckled. "That's very like you to say that."

"Shut up. See ya." He walked away and waved. Minako couldn't help but admire his broad back.

"See?" Yukari said to Fuuka. "He's a good person."

"Uhn! He's just a little scary though…" Fuuka replied shyly.

"I didn't think he was such a feminist," Mitsuru said.

"If you'd ask Junpei, he'll only say 'What are you trying to act so cool for?' or something like that," Yukari scoffed.

Fuuka giggled at her Junpei impersonation. "He was cool, wasn't he?"

"This is the second time he's helped us, after all," Minako said, smiling gently.

Her best friend frowned. "I feel like…we should thank him somehow."

"Thank him…huh…?" He face heated up as he conjured in her thoughts. "I wonder what we can do for him?"

"Your feelings alone are enough," Mitsuru stated. "He doesn't like it if you make a big fuss."

"Ahh, he does give that impression," Yukari nodded.

Fuuka finally remembered what he told them before. "Come to think of it, he was looking for a dog, right?" she wondered.

"Do any dogs live near here?"

"He said that he believes it went home," Aigis reminded them. "The possibility that it lives here is quite high."

Minako placed a finger on her chin, thinking. "And now it doesn't, huh?"

"Hmmm…a dog that lives at Naganaki shrine?" Fuuka tried to follow her train of thought. "Could it be…?"

The SEES girls gasped. "Koromaru?!"

* * *

**Finished! Just leave a review or comment of what you think about this chapter. I'm all ears!**


	5. Chapter 5: One Kid and 2 Clowns

**The previous chapter was exclusively for girls. Now we get to see what the boys are up to XD**

* * *

**_On the way to Naganaki shrine…_**

Koromaru let out sneeze, causing his friends to stop in their tracks.

"What's wrong?" Akihiko asked.

"Maybe he's sick?" Ken suggested. He got down to one knee and held the dog's face. "Koro, are you okay?" He got a whine in return.

"Don't go sniffing around anything you find," Akihiko scolded. The dog whined in protest, and started to pant.

They continued their walk with the destination in mind, Koromaru trotting along the path he knew by heart. Akihiko started the conversation, wanting to get to know the new dorm member a little better. "Have you gotten used to the dorm yet?"

Ken smiled. "Yes. Everyone's been kind to me."

"I see."

"Meeting Aigis-san surprised me," Ken said. He mentioned it out of curiosity, having noticed that she wasn't what she seemed.

"She surprised me too."

"She said she's a weapon…is that true?"

Akihiko couldn't help but gawk at the boy. _'Kids these days sure are smart…'_ He laced his fingers behind his head, trying to quell down any signs of panic. "Who knows? I don't get her either." That wasn't even a complete lie; he had never interacted with an android before.

Ken pointed out another observation. "She really gets along with the leaders. Yukari-san says she is like a baby chick who needs her mom." Since he moved in, he had never seen the twins far apart except from when they separated to their own rooms. And where there were the twins, there was Aigis.

"It really seems that way, doesn't it? But it's weird…" Akihiko recalled a vital piece of information. "Before she met those two, she already met me and Junpei..." He couldn't stop the slight shudder at the memory associated with it, "and before that, she probably knew all kinds of people at the lab."

Ken dismissed Akihiko's last sentence. "By the way, why do we address them as 'Leader'?" he asked. He found it strange that the twins, who were juniors, held a title superior than that of their seniors.

"Because in Tart–" The boxing champ quickly caught himself. "I wonder why? I don't really remember how it started either."

"I see."

An awkward pause hung between them after Ken quickly dropped the subject.

"Um…how's summer vacation coming along?" Akihiko asked, attempting to end the uncomfortable silence.

"Well…there's nothing much to do," the elementary student stated the obvious.

"Come to think of it, you don't go out often. Don't you want to go and play with your friends?" The question earned him a frown.

"Not that I know anyone well enough to invite them and play."

"Oh…"

Ken scowled at the ground. "The people in my class are too childish."

"You don't have to force yourself to hang out with them," Akihiko said. He remembered vaguely how he was also scolded in the same manner by his best friend.

"That's right!" the boy replied smugly.

"I hang around two people– " The words died in the teenager's throat. He closed his silver eyes, having recalled a painful memory. "No…I just hang around with one person. We did everything together."

"Hmm…" So far, the only person Ken ever saw Akihiko close to was Mitsuru. "Even now?"

"No."

If anything, the string of tension between them tightened.

In a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, Akihiko plastered a smile on his face and said "Oh, if you need help with your summer vacation homework, then–"

"I already finished all of it. I don't have any left," Ken answered.

"Oh, well…it's a good thing you finished."

Ken surprised him by letting out a giggle. "Yukari-san said she wouldn't let Junpei-san see hers."

The senior let his shoulders relax, letting out a breathy laugh. "Absolutely." He had to reprimand Junpei the other day for being too noisy after failing the last few times in his attempt to copy his classmates' assignments.

They were close to the Naganaki Shrine entrance when Koromaru sniffed the air and barked in a certain direction. His tail wagged happily.

"Speak of the devil." He spotted who Koromaru was barking at. "Look, it's Junpei. And Minato too."

Ken perked up. "You're right. Junpei-san! Leader!" He waved at them excitedly.

Junpei wasted no time approaching his dorm mates. "Ah, it's Amada-shonen, and Sanada-san." He looked down at the white Shiba Inu. "Taking Koro on a walk?"

"Hey," Minato greeted casually, before bending down to scratch Koromaru behind the ears.

"Good evening!" Kenji greeted enthusiastically, radiating the same excitement as Junpei.

The capped teen introduced him to the others. "This is Tomochika. We're in the same class."

Akihiko held out a hand for a handshake. "I see. I'm Sanada, a third-year. Nice to meet you."

Kenji returned the gesture. "H-hai! I've seen you around."

Junpei chuckled and nudged him in the ribs. "Why are you so stiff? And this is Amada-shonen. He's in elementary school, but he's staying at Iwatodai dorm for summer break."

"I'm Amada. Thank you for taking care of Junpei-san." The boy then bowed respectfully to the older guys.

"Whoa!" Kenji exclaimed, awestruck. "This kid is even more mature than Junpei."

"I don't want to hear that from you!"

Minato sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "That's what we've been telling him," he mumbled.

"And not from you, either!"

Koromaru barked, wanting to be noticed too.

"You want me to introduce you too?" Junpei asked. The dog barked his happiness.

"I know you. You're that famous dog, right? You live at this shrine." Kenji held out a hand to Koromaru, who returned the 'handshake' by giving him his paw. "Yosh yosh, you're such a cute boy!"

"We're keeping him at our dorm for now," his capped classmate informed him.

"Oh, there's plenty of variety, isn't there?" Kenji asked. The previous jealousy he harbored seemed to have died a little.

"Yeah, we try our best to get along," Minato said.

"Junpei-san, have you seen Aigis-san?" Ken asked.

"Yeah, we did."

"How was it?"

"How was…what?"

Ken lowered his voice a little. "She's wearing a yukata, right?"

Junpei laughed. "Heh ~ So you're into that kind of stuff, Amada-shonen?" He ruffled the boy's brown hair teasingly.

Quickly enough, Ken started to fluster. "N-no!" he stuttered. "I-I just thought that…since she's different from normal people, it may…"

"It was fine," Junpei reassured him. "She looked like a normal girl."

"The girls are there with her too, so she's more than okay," Minato added.

"Huh…I wanna see…"

Kenji shook his head. "She wasn't normal. She's at a high level."

"All the girls in our dorm are top class S-levels!" Junpei exclaimed. "Though they are a bit tough…"

Minato rolled his eyes. He knew where this conversation was going. "Given the circumstances, they have to be." And he didn't just mean fighting Shadows.

"Did something happen?" Ken asked.

"Just a slip of the tongue…" Junpei said, trying to be vague. His reddening cheeks and his I-just-got-scolded grin sort of gave it away.

This somewhat annoyed Akihiko, even though it was nothing new. "What? You got Takeba angry again?" He sighed. "You never learn, do you?"

"Yukari-cchi is just so short-tempered!" Junpei whined. "I wanted her to…have a calmer aura."

"Takeba just isn't like that. She has guts though!" At this, Akihiko let out a confident (perhaps **_over_**confident) grin. "It's such a waste that she's a woman. I want to enlist her in the boxing club. I think she'd be a strong fighter!"

Minato sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "Why am I friends with such strange people?" he muttered, pinching the bridge of his eyebrows. He could imagine Yukari beating Akihiko at his own game (in this case, the boxing ring) should she have heard that.

Junpei paled. "Sanada-san, just don't say that to Yukari-cchi. She'll go all 'Here's our chance for an all-out attack!'" His eyes widened as his panic manifested. "Also, it wasn't just Yukari-cchi. Even Minako-cchi was seriously pissed…"

"Her? Did you steal her food again?" Akihiko asked accusingly.

"I didn't do that this time! And it wasn't even my fault." Junpei whirled around, pointing wildly at Kenji. "It was his! Tomochika is to blame!"

"M-me?! I didn't say anything to make her angry!"

Akihiko and Ken sweatdropped at the gag. To Minato, it was a mystery how Kenji still remained alive. "That's not exactly the problem…" he pointed out.

Junpei was taken aback by Kenji's cluelessness. "… I'm surprised by your inability to read the atmosphere…" A primal fear ran down his spine. "Even Fuuka's smile scared me."

"Fuuka-san?" Ken tilted his head, trying to recall a memory of sweet, shy Fuuka getting mad. He couldn't find any. "I can't see her getting angry, though…"

"I never saw it before, either!" Junpei whispered forcefully, as if said girl was going to jump him from behind the wall or something.

"Actually, I don't think it's that scary…" Minato admitted. _'Compared to her cooking,'_ he added silently.

"Junpei-san, shouldn't you be used to getting screamed at?"

"Even if I am, it hurts to be screamed at." The capped jokester rubbed his listening organ. "Geez…my ears…"

Akihiko raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you doing that because you like to?" he inquired.

"Huh? Does it seem that way?"

"It looks like you'd be happy if you got bitten."

"Darn! He figured me out," Junpei grinned, holding his chest as his cover got blown.

"So that's your fetish…" Kenji said, looking at Junpei as if he was a strange alien.

"Don't say 'fetish'!" the capped Magician retorted. "And I'm not like that!"

"Don't lie!"

Koromaru's sad whine distracted the young men from pursuing their argument.

Kenji let out a tired sigh. "I'll be going now. Rio's probably waiting for me." He flipped open his phone, frowning at the time. Nothing new had entered his inbox either. "What are you guys going to do?"

"Ah, Sanada-san, what are you guys going to do?" Junpei directed the question to his senpai.

"We're going to look around, and buy some dinner."

"Come to think of it, we haven't had dinner yet either," Minato stated.

"Then, I guess we'll come with you," Junpei said.

"Is that so?" The other Magician then turned to make his leave. "See ya!"

"Say hi to Rio-cchi for me!"

Minato waved. "Later."

"Yeah!" With one last wave, Kenji sprinted down the street.

Junpei watched on as he disappeared from sight. "I wonder if she's actually waiting…" he sighed. "That guy worries me…"

"It's pretty amazing that Junpei-san's worried, huh?" Ken snickered.

"That's true," Minato laughed.

Junpei grinned as he grabbed Ken. "You little…" He gave the boy a noogie, earning him a playful giggle.

Minato and Akihiko watched on as the kids played, Koromaru barking and running circles around them.

* * *

**A/N: Shonen means 'boy', particularly boys in their tweens and teens. Junpei calls Ken 'Amada-shonen' to show him respect and not to make him feel awkward or inferior at being surrounded by a bunch of high school going teenagers, despite Ken's mature (if not more) mentality and mannerisms.**

**Thank you so much to those who have reviewed. You earned the super-special cybercookies I mentioned in the previous chapters.**

**I'm still hyped about the new Persona 5 trailer! THE HYPE IS REAL, YO!**


	6. Chapter 6: Brother and Sister

**I'll stop myself from rambling so that you can get to reading this latest chapter.**

**Yesterday, I had a dream - that I was the supreme commander of Atlus and all its contents and fortune belonged to me. Then I woke up TT_TT**

* * *

**_Somewhere in the midst of the festival…_**

A white-haired young lady in a blue dress and attendant hat stared at the person next to her with keen, cat-like golden eyes. "Theo?" she called.

The young man dressed in a bellhop uniform the same shade of blue as the woman's, ignored her, staring at something not too far from him. One could tell these people were related by blood, as their hair and eye colors were exactly the same.

"Theodore?" Elizabeth, for that was her name, called again.

"This is…" Theodore mused, lost in his own thoughts. All that was interrupted by something hitting his face. "Ah!" he yelped. "What is it, Sister?"

Elizabeth smirked. "This is a tool to cheer people up – a wood pipe." She held up a colorful party streamer. "It is sometimes called a snake pipe."

"Uhh…I wasn't asking what it was…" Theodore said, scratching his cheek.

Ignoring him, his sister continued her explanation. "Look, Theo! If you hold your breath and exhale, the length will…!" She deliberately aimed at her brother.

"Ah! Again…"

"My, this will be a great challenge for our master's nose." Elizabeth's eyes shined in delight. "This has been a great discovery." And again, she blew the party streamer to hit him in the face.

Theodore tried to defend himself. "I understand…I understand, so please…!" he begged. "Will you tell me why you keep hitting me?"

"It is because you are right there."

"Are you not simply aiming for me?"

"When our master calls for you, does he not hit you in this way?" Elizabeth asked, feigning ignorance with an innocent pout.

Theodore had learned a long time ago not to be fooled. "I have never been called in this manner!" he retorted. "And, I do not believe that our master's nose is that long…" he trailed off.

Elizabeth changed the subject. It wasn't as fun to tease her baby brother when he started showing resistance. "Putting that aside…Theo, what have you been thinking this whole time?"

"Ah…about that ice-cone stand over there…" Theo pointed to a stall surrounded by children. "Amongst the flavors, there is one called 'Blue Hawaii'."

"Blue…Hawaii…" She let the name roll off her tongue. "My, how inspirational. A name that reminds you of the blueness of the seas!"

"About that, Sister…" The male assistant started pressing his index fingers together nervously. "If it was made reflecting the image of the sea…how would it taste like? I have been thinking of that…"

"Then what does your heart tell you?!" Elizabeth suddenly asked, raising her voice enthusiastically.

Startled, Theodore took a step back. "Wh– My heart?" He couldn't see the correlation between the question and flavor of ice-cones. "Uh…well, um…It is most likely…salt-flavored. I hear that the salt content of the sea is quite high," he answered, quite certain of the fact he added at the end.

There was a short pause, then Elizabeth suddenly said "Five points."

The youngest Velvet sibling started to panic. "Eh?! Five…?"

"Five points…out of 100."

Theodore let out a high-pitched noise that was a cross between a yell and a squeak, before clearing his throat. "Then, do you know the correct answer, dear Sister?"

"Salt-flavored," Elizabeth answered three seconds later.

"Is that not what I said?!"

She ignored him. "Theo! Look at that over there!" Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, pointing to a stall lined with masks.

Following behind his excitable sister's steps, he browsed a wall display of masks one by one, until a familiar face caught his eye. "Oh, a mask of Jack Frost," he said. "How lovable."

The stall owner was happy to receive customers. "Welcome!" he greeted.

"I wish to purchase a mask of Jack Frost, if you would please!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"That's good. Here ya go!"

"I would like the same thing as–" Before he could finish his sentence, something hit Theodore's left eye. "Sister, is it not a foul to aim for the eyes?" He was almost in tears from the pain, and in fear of losing his sight.

"Following your sister's actions so promptly…" Elizabeth chided, narrowing her eyes in distaste. "It appears you are still a child."

"I-I am not a child," Theodore huffed. He hated it when his sisters told him that.

"If you claim to be an adult male…then choose this instead." The second Velvet sister picked up another mask, only it was not as cute. The face was deformed and unnaturally twisted, painted in colors that would suit a clown.

Theodore looked uneasy. "This mask…what is this?" he mused, studying it. "Based on the positioning of the eyes and nose…and below it is the…mouth? Isn't the positioning a bit off?"

"It appears to be a traditional mask called the 'Hyottoko'," Elizabeth explained, eyes glinting in mirth as she watched her brother's naïvity. He was so fun to tease when he became like this.

"Uhh…But, this doesn't give off a very good feeling."

"I believe it suits you quite perfectly."

"Eh?! Ah, is that so…?" Often when his sisters praise him, there were at least two hints of criticism as well. Unfortunately, the praise got a little to his head. "This is the face I often make…I see…"

Elizabeth picked up another mask. "And this mask is made to resemble a woman." She picked up a face of a smiling fat lady painted pale white with thin red lips, and slipped it on her face. "An 'otafuku', also known as an 'O-kamen'." She took it off, but didn't put it down.

"I see…are you planning to purchase this mask then, Sister?"

"Why must I purchase a mask that forms a set with yours?" she asked irritatingly. "Please purchase this for our eldest sister!"

A tingle of fear shot up his spine at the mention of the name. "F-for our eldest sister, Margaret?! Will she even be pleased with this?"

"It is a gift from her adorable younger brother, after all. Of course she would be pleased!"

Theodore had his doubts, but it was in his best interest to keep his mouth shut. "H-hai…" he agreed hesitantly.

"When you hand it to her, you must tell her: 'I believed this would suit you best'," Elizabeth added.

The tingle became an electric shock. "Eh?! No, but…this doesn't resemble her at all!" Theodore's vivid imagination conjured up an image of Margaret torturing him in the worst ways possible.

"Saying that will make her happy! In addition, when you present it to her, be sure to do it in my presence." The excitement never left her expression. "I would like to watch."

But then again, the torture and teasing from Elizabeth was just as worse, if not more. "Ah…ha…" He let out a defeated breath. "I understand."

Elizabeth turned around, a new pep in her step. "In that case, I shall go locate a souvenir of my own."

"…Yes…"

Meanwhile, the Arisato twins met again when they separated from their own groups. Minako lost her girl friends after enthusiastically running off ahead, finally regaining energy for another round of games. She may or may not have secretly used the excuse to explore and locate Aragaki-senpai, hoping to see him again. In Minato's case, he silently slipped away from his dorm mates after Akihiko and Junpei's game of water jets got a little too competitive. He desperately needed some solitude; at least Ken had Koromaru to keep him company, so he felt a little less guilty for leaving the kid in the hands of two incompetent morons.

They bumped into each other in front of a goldfish scooping game stall, both giving each other secret smiles as a wonderful memory was triggered by the game. They bought some ice-cones and did a little exploring together before going back to their groups.

It was Minako who spotted the Velvet siblings first. "Huh? Theo?"

Minato stopped slurping his icy treat. "Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth's demeanor lit up. "My! Are you by any chance, Theo's guest?" she greeted flamboyantly, and gave a half-bow to Minato. "My guest is here as well."

Theodore suavely bowed to his guest as well. "To think that we would meet he–" He was rudely pushed aside.

"Move aside, Theo!" Elizabeth vigorously shook Minako's hand. Although they had met in the Velvet Room many times before, there wasn't a chance to interact as she had to attend Minato first and foremost. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Theo's elder sister, Elizabeth. Thank you for caring for him all this time."

Minako couldn't help but smile back. "Pleased to meet you! Same here, I am always in Theo's debt." She couldn't help but add a jab at her twin. "And thank **_you_** for taking care of my brother!"

The blunette got the hint. "Oi, don't say it like I'm an invalid."

"I have heard…no, I have been told so much about you from Theo. Such as – "

Theodore quickly interrupted her. "Sister! She's my guest, so please refrain from saying anything unnecessary!"

Humored giggles escaped the auburn headed girl's lips. "You get along pretty well, don't you?"

Minato scratched his cheek. "So this is what they're actually like…huh?" He couldn't help but sympathize with Theo, although this was **_Elizabeth_** they were talking about here. "I never would have guessed…"

Theodore sighed. "She is a rather difficult siste–"

Elizabeth gave him a sharp glare. "Did you say something?"

He knew he had to change the topic or else he'd be dead. He cleared his throat. "That aside, your clothes today are…rather different, aren't they?" He stared at her from top to bottom, soaking in her appearance.

"It's called a yukata," Minako answered him.

"I see." Theodore addressed her like he usually does in the Velvet Room, hand on his chest as he towered over her, bowing slightly to accommodate her height. "Indeed, it seems you look lovely in no matter what you wear."

The young woman blushed at his praise. "Eh-?!" She flustered and played with her fingers. "Um…thanks…"

The male twin wasn't impressed. It wasn't that he didn't trust Theo…he just made it a general point to let other guys know that whoever wanted to get to his sister had to go through him first (_'I don't have a complex, Junpei!'_) so he made sure his glare was sharper than Elizabeth's.

Theodore continued with the small talk. "Are you here by yourself?"

"Ah, no, my friends are waiting for me a ways back." She turned to her brother. "Onii-chan is with another group of friends as well."

"I just needed a short break," Minato drawled. "They can be too loud at times."

"I see. If you were alone, I would not have minded accompanying you, but…"

"Are you in a hurry?" Minako asked.

"Actually, the last time I came into this world, I happened to hear of today's festival. I was hoping I would be able to experience it with you." He gently took his guest's hand. Minato's glare became sharper, although Theo was completely oblivious to it. "You haven't visited the Velvet Room in some time, and so…"

"Sorry about that. We were busy with summer classes so I didn't have time."

"It was mandatory, so it's not like we could sneak out," Minato said through gritted teeth.

Theodore smiled. "Do not worry, I do not mind."

"It's fine. I do not mind," Elizabeth echoed her brother. "To continue where his words left off, he felt that he would feel unbearable regret had he failed to come, and so he impatiently cried and begged me to come along with him, hence why I had no choice but to take the lead."

"It was the opposite!" the youngest Velvet attendant rebutted. "My sister wished to come here no matter what, so I – "

"Although I said I am leading," Elizabeth interrupted him, "much like my brother, I too lack familiarity with this world, and so I have been able to experience fresh surprises at a constant rate. Even though my own guest takes me exploring from time to time, it is still a wonderful experience."

Minato scratched his head. "You're welcome," he said, not knowing what else to utter.

His sister giggled. "It's great to see that you're enjoying yourselves!"

Elizabeth sniffed the air when a delicious scent passed by. "It appears that cart over there is selling the famous 'takoyaki'," she said. "But…in a place like this? Do the people even know what's in it?"

"It's octopus," the twins answered simultaneously.

"Yes, there is certainly octopus within it as well, but that aside…to think they would use 'that' in such a public area… Indeed, it would be quite challenging for even me to attempt it. But it appears to be the same perpetrator where my guest took me before."

Minako gasped. "So there really **_is_** something strange in it! Just what is 'that' anyway?!"

Theodore smirked at her. "Sister, you are not the only one who have attempted. I too, have tasted that before."

"What did you say?!"

"When my guest took me to see this world before, she recommended it to me so I tried it. Supposedly, it would have caused my cheeks to fall off, but…" He patted his cheeks with gloved hands. "As you can see, I am completely unharmed."

"Then it seems there is no need to test for poisons." Elizabeth held her chin, before determination sets in her eyes. "Alright, you have convinced me. The exciting flavor unique to 'that'…then I shall partake in those once more."

"But what is 'that'?!" Minako asked again, dying to know the secret ingredient.

"By 'that', I am of course referring to – "

"Sister…" Theodore's voice had lowered into a warning.

Elizabeth realized her almost slip-up, and her professional persona returned. "It appears that have nearly overstepped my boundaries. I must apologize."

The female Wild Card was still persistent. "Please tell me!" she begged.

Her brother sighed, pulling her back. "Forget it. She wouldn't tell me either."

"I have heard of a saying that goes: 'There are some things one is better off not knowing'," Elizabeth said sagely.

"Even if you say something like that, it just makes me even more curious!" Minako wailed.

"That's it, Theo!" The Velvet sister snapped her fingers, ignoring Minako's puppy dog eyes. "Let us bring those takoyaki as a souvenir as well. We can force–…no, have the Master and our eldest sister partake in them."

"Yes, that does seem like a good idea," Theodore agreed. "When I told the Master of my experiences with takoyaki, he seemed most interested as well."

Minako tilted her head to the side. "Are you picking up souvenirs…for Igor-san?"

Minato did the same. "Does he even eat takoyaki…?"

"Only Sister and I have ever set foot outside of the Velvet Room. It would be a pity to not bring anything for the ones staying behind."

"They did say souvenirs were not necessary, however…" Elizabeth trailed off.

"I am sure that our Master and eldest sister would understand."

"You have another sister?" Minako wondered.

"Yes. You may indeed meet her one day." Elizabeth looked straight into her eyes, then Minato's, her voice low and ominous. "…Once you gain greater power, that day will surely come."

"Power…" Minako repeated.*****

"…huh?" her brother continued.*****

**[ * Refer to A/N below]**

A distant female voice was calling at their direction. "Heeeey, Minako!" It was Yukari, waving as she made her way towards them. She stopped in her tracks when she realized what she had done. "…Ah, sorry about that. Am I interrupting?"

"No, it's fine," Minako assured her.

"Minato-kun, you're here as well? What happened to Junpei?"

"He was being too loud at the game stands. I decided to wonder around before going back to him."

Theodore approached Yukari, giving her a polite bow in greeting. "Is she a friend of yours?" he asked. "This one also looks rather lovely in a yukata."

"Wh– Aha…thank you very much!" Yukari stammered, her face blossoming a few shades of crimson.

"Do you understand, dear guest?" Elizabeth told Minako. She smirked at Minato's way, as if goading the young man's feeling towards the blushing brunette. "Theo is one to say such words to anyone he lays eyes on."

Minato kept his cool, although he wished that Theodore was anywhere else but here. His sister sweatdropped. She couldn't imagine how Theo could survive with such intense teasing from his sister. Now that she had seen her true colors, Minako was even more concerned for her brother's sanity at having such a person for a Velvet Room attendant.

"Th-that's not true!" Theodore denied.

"But just now, you repeated to this girl the words you spoke to our guest earlier," Elizabeth said, made a thinking gesture. The corner of her lips twitched to withhold the smirk from appearing.

The youngest Velvet attendant stumbled with his words. "Ah, that is…true…" he lamely admitted. "But…but you're still wrong The only one who is special to me is my guest!"

"My, Theo…and in such a loud voice as well…"

"Ah…!"

Minato's left eye was twitching. "You must have a death wish…" he whispered, imagining various ways of hurting Theodore.

Poor Theo…couldn't even catch a break.

"Minako-chan…" Yukari interjected, approaching her. "You'll tell me the details later, right?"

Not knowing what to say, Minako let out a nervous giggle. "Ah! Ahahaha…."

That broke Minato out of his thoughts, blushing lightly at the distance between him and Yukari, even though the brunette was only talking to his sister. He recognized the tone and implication in Yukari's question towards her, and couldn't help but feel relieved that he wasn't the one about to go through an interrogation disguised as a girl-talk session when they got back to the dorm.

Theodore squeaked quietly when Elizabeth pinched his arm. He got the message. "In any case, I must take my leave here." He gave them a deep bow.

"It was indeed a pleasure," Elizabeth continued. She gently patted her brother's arm. "He is rather an incompetent younger brother, but please, continue to take good care of him."

"Of course I will!" Minako extended a hand towards her. "The same goes for you. It was great to meet you, too!"

As the two young women exchanged farewells, Minato did the same with Theodore, only the blunette enhanced his grip as a subtle warning, adding a glare just in case. Minato doubted that he got the message though; his twin did tell him that her Velvet assistant was sometimes oblivious to social cues.

"Then until next time, I shall await your arrival in the Velvet Room," Theodore said, bowing to the pair of extraordinary guests.

Minako waved. "Yeah! Later."

Minato only raised a polite hand. "See you later."

The two Velvet siblings walked away. Their conversation could still be heard.

_"How hot is that 'takoyaki' when served?" _Elizabeth quizzed.

_"In terms of temperature, it is approximately 98 degrees Celsius…" _Theodore answered.

_"And how many can you stuff in at a time?"_

_"Stuff in? Where to?"_

_"Cheek pouch."_

_"I don't have any!"_

Their argument continued until they were out of earshot.

Minato turned to the opposite direction. "Ah, I should be going back to Junpei now" he told the girls. "He'll get even louder if he can't find me. Later."

"Bye, Onii-chan!" Minako waved, all smiley and bright eyes.

"See you later!" Yukari said. She continued to stare at his direction until he disappeared into the crowd. The she turned to look back at the direction Elizabeth and Theodore left. "Wow, they look like models…but they're kinda weird too…" she commented.

"Ehehe…I guess."

"And? How are you related to them?"

"Um…I wonder what's the best way to explain…?"

Yukari was relentless in her questioning. "Are they shopkeepers? Since they were all like: 'We'll be expecting you'."

Minako decided that was the closest answer to the truth and blurted out "Ah, yeah! S-something like that…!"

"You two really know a bunch of different people, don't you, Leader?"

The female leader let out a nervous laugh and blushed sheepishly.

"Anyways, let's go."

"Y-yeah!"

"You were taking so long so I decided to come check up on you," Yukari said, pretending to scold her.

"Sorry about that."

* * *

**A/N: Just to let you know if you find this dialogue strange. In Japanese, most question sentences have the word 'ka' at the end, a sort of spoken question mark (?). There is no translation of it in English. Therefore, in order for Minato to finish his sister's sentence, I put a 'huh' and a (?) at the end, because that's the closest meaning and sound without spoiling the effect. In the original drama CD, it was only Minako speaking, and it goes something like this: "Chikara….ka…?" So in order to transition from sister and then continuing with the brother, it's more like:**

**Minako: Chikara…**

**Minato: …ka?**

**I hope that explains it. **

**Read and review please. Just tell me anything!**


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